Andy Warhol 1928-1987. Negative print film, acetate from 'Ladies and Gentlemen'. 31 x 27 (74 x 58) cm.

Provenance: Andy Warhol's Studio (The Factory) via Chromacomp, Inc. (Warhol's printer)
Signed Letter of Provenance
Authenticity Guaranteed
(unevenly cut by Andy Warhol himself)
 
Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987)
Wilhelmina Ross, Ladies and Gentlemen, circa 1975
Unique Acetate Negative 
17 x 14 in. 
Accompanied by a signed letter of provenance, hand-signed by the representative of the printing studio Chromacomp
Printed circa 1975
 
This large (approx. 17 inches by 14 inches) work is one of the acetates used to create Warhol's "Ladies & Gentlemen" series. We sold the bulk of the Chromacomp collection to an Italian consortium, who exhibited them in 2014, in conjunction with the Warhol Foundation, at the Naples Art Museum, curated by Warhol scholar Benito Oliva.

This particular work is one of the few acetates from that series that remains in the U.S. It is accompanied by a signed letter of provenance. 

As a testament to the historical importance of this collection, we just sold Warhol's acetate of famous conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth - to Joseph Kosuth himself, and Baby Jane Holzer herself made an offer on one of the Warhol acetates of herself used to make his famous silkscreen of her.
 
This is an original 1970s photographic acetate positive of Wilhelmina Ross, an excellent example of a rebel who resisted convention as a drag queen, half a century before it became more widely accepted. This came directly from Warhol's studio to his printer - Chromacomp. 

This image was taken by Andy Warhol and came directly from Warhol's studio to his printer. This acetate was used by Warhol for his iconic portrait of Wilhelmina Ross, for his famous Ladies and Gentlemen series. 

The idea for the Ladies and Gentlemen series came from a protégé of art dealer Alexander Iolas named Anselmino. For the series, Warhol found his models at the Gilded Grape on West 45th Street, frequented by black and Hispanic transvestites. 

Unlike the portraits commissioned by socialites and celebrities, Warhol paid these sitters to pose in front of his camera. In a statement made by Vincent Fremont about the sitters he says, "Bob Colacello found most of them at a club called the Gilded Grape. After the photo session, I would hand the subjects a model release and a check and send them over to the bank." The cross-dressers were invited to pose and dress as they wished while Warhol took their portraits with his Polaroid Big Shot camera, the same process he used with the Hollywood starlets and socialites. The photographs were then sent to a commercial silkscreen shop where they were transferred onto the silk or silk-like fabric and then returned to Warhol for printing. These paintings are glamorous and feminine, mimicking the celebrity status of his other portraits. 

This acetate was brought by Warhol to Eunice and Jackson Lowell, owners of Chromacomp, a fine art printing studio in NYC, and was acquired directly from the Lowell's private collection. (During the 1970s and '80s, Chromacomp was the premier atelier for fine art limited edition silkscreen prints; indeed, Chromacomp was the largest studio producing fine art prints in the world for artists such Robert Natkin, David Hockney, Warhol and many more.) Warhol left the remaining acetates, including this one, with Eunice and Jackson Lowell. After the Lowells closed the shop, the photographs were packed away where they remained for nearly a quarter of a century.